Bahamian Moor

A safe way to secure a boat left unattended in an anchorage
Strictly and traditionally speaking, to moor is to secure a boat with two anchors whose rodes lead in opposite directions, or nearly so. A boat is not moored when she lies to one anchor only, or even to two anchors lying ahead; she is then at anchor. (In modern parlance, mooring connotes any semipermanent anchoring system.)If you’re planning to leave your boat unattended for a while in an anchorage, both you and she will be happier if she’s moored. Some insurance policies will cover your boat if she’s moored but not if she’s at anchor, so be sure you understand the difference.To begin the Bahamian moor, set out your bower anchor—your largest working one—in the direction of the prevailing wind or the strongest current. Drift back to the full extent of the anchor line, and drop your kedge anchor. Then haul in on the bower line, snubbing the kedge as you go to set it into the ground, and center the boat between the two anchors. Now make the end of the kedge line (usually nylon) fast with a rolling hitch to the bower rode (chain or nylon). Ease away the bower rode from the bow roller until the kedge line is well underwater—deep enough not to foul your keel when the boat swings.In effect, you are now made fast by the bow to a line stretched between two anchors, and the advantages are that your swinging circle is greatly restricted and your rodes cannot foul their anchors.In practice, don’t try to make an absolutely taut line between the two anchors. Leave some slack so that when the wind comes from abeam, the rodes will lie to windward in a shallow V shape and relieve the anchors of considerable strain.Incidentally, it’s not always as easy as it sounds to join the kedge line to the bower line. The longer the length of kedge line above water, the more awkward it is to work with. It’s easier if you work the spare line into a tight coil and lash it with a light line to prevent its unraveling before you try tying the rolling hitch and submerging it.If you have a dinghy, simply anchor with the bower from the bow on a scope of 5 to 1 or so, and take the kedge aft in the dinghy to the full extent of its rode. Then tie the inboard end of the kedge rode to the bower rode and lower the join into the water as before, leaving the boat to swing freely from one rode passing over the bow roller.When it’s time to leave, if you can’t recover the kedge with the dinghy, buoy the end of the line and throw it overboard. Weigh the bower anchor as usual, and then recover the kedge from your boat.See also Anchors, Anchoring; Bower and Kedge; Mooring.

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